Busy season offers

[regnis]

What's your thoughts on this---I have been receiving great offers from Wynn addressed to my father, who never lived at this address and died 30 years ago. I have been tempted to use the offers but it feels creepy. By the way, my father was a very minimal gambler who never would have qualified for these kinds of offers. As I think about it, Wynn didn't even exist while he was alive

[Dan Druff]

What's your thoughts on this---I have been receiving great offers from Wynn addressed to my father, who never lived at this address and died 30 years ago. I have been tempted to use the offers but it feels creepy. By the way, my father was a very minimal gambler who never would have qualified for these kinds of offers. As I think about it, Wynn didn't even exist while he was alive

How could you do this? You would likely need a valid ID to redeem the offers, and your father doesn't hold any kind of current ID, given the length of time since his death.

The better question would be: "My father looked young for his age, and he died recently, so I could use his ID and pass for him. Should I redeem his freeplay offers?"

But I don't think that's your situation.

Oh wait... I guess you could get away with this if your name is the same as his. Is that what you're referring to?

[Dan Druff]

It's pretty obvious to me that my play -- no matter where I play -- is being tracked. How does the GN know to send me an invitation? If you don't think one casino company can't see that you are playing at another casino you are fooling yourself.

If there weren't so many computers and so many data bases, your plan for "hit and run" double dipping could work.

Maybe in my younger days it would be worth trying. To be honest: if GN allowed me double my Caesars offers in one day I would stay there. In the past they told me it would be split over three days. Do you think I want to go through the trouble of running back and forth between Caesars Palace and the GN over three days? Heck no. I have other things to do besides riding back and forth between casinos downtown and on the Strip.

And I certainly would have a hard time explaining to my girlfriend what the heck I was doing.

I leave that creativity to you other guys. But instead of driving or cab rides back and forth, I'd rather have dinner, or room service, or see a show, or sight-see... not to mention the other fun things you can do.

But if the folks from the GN are reading this, take note: Offer me double what I get at Caesars and give it to me on ONE day instead of over 3 days, and you might get me to try you out. Otherwise, GN is not worth the effort.

There is no cross-casino tracking of play. Casinos do not want their competitors getting a hold of a list of their list of frequent players, for obvious reasons.

The only cooperation that exists between casinos (of different ownership) involves sharing data on cheaters and advantage players.

How did the Golden Nugget get your info? Could be from several sources. It might have been "stolen" by a shady CET employee and sold to the GN. It might have been sold by a third-party company involving your markers/check cashing (as already suggested). Or you might have engaged in some other behavior which allowed them to data harvest and peg you as a likely big gambler.

This was definitely procured through some sort of marketing shenanigans, whether legal or illegal. I can guarantee you that CET won't be "watching" your play (or lack thereof) at the GN.

Now, whether going down to the GN for this freeplay is worth your time is a different story. If you get a nice offer from Caesars, I can't imagine how DOUBLE that offer (or even its equivalent) wouldn't be worth driving a few miles to downtown Las Vegas. If your girlfriend really objects to this (why should she?), offer to take her to a nice dinner at Vic and Anthony's Steakhouse afterwards. While I admit that running between 2 casinos wouldn't be the most romantic setting for a first date, it seems like you've been this woman long enough to where she should completely understand, especially if she plays some VP herself.

[Alan Mendelson]

The info about play comes from the Central Clearing House that tracks all credit cards, ATM cards, and credit lines in Vegas. The data, from what I've been told is for sale. That's how the GN sends me offers as do other casinos I've never set foot in.

Then, of course, we don't know if host at casino A is trying to get a job at casino B and what deals are going on.

I once had a host who changed casinos and offered me $5k free play to move to the new casino and this was when I was getting offers of about $800.

By the way Gwen has been to Caesars with me. I'm pretty sure schlepping between casinos is not what she would consider fun or romantic.

However I have done similar free play hopping among casinos near Rincon. I did it at Pauma and Pechanga and both cut me off.

Do you really want to risk being cut off for a few hundred bucks of free play?

On my last few trips to Caesars I was playing $1 video poker and $10 and $15 craps. I don't think l can risk any kind of comp whoring. I leave that to you high rollers like Rob who gets multiple offers on the same days. Pretty amazing, isn't it? Well I am not in his class.

[Dan Druff]

The info about play comes from the Central Clearing House that tracks all credit cards, ATM cards, and credit lines in Vegas. The data, from what I've been told is for sale. That's how the GN sends me offers as do other casinos I've never set foot in.

Then, of course, we don't know if host at casino A is trying to get a job at casino B and what deals are going on.

I once had a host who changed casinos and offered me $5k free play to move to the new casino and this was when I was getting offers of about $800.

By the way Gwen has been to Caesars with me. I'm pretty sure schlepping between casinos is not what she would consider fun or romantic.

However I have done similar free play hopping among casinos near Rincon. I did it at Pauma and Pechanga and both cut me off.

Do you really want to risk being cut off for a few hundred bucks of free play?

On my last few trips to Caesars I was playing $1 video poker and $10 and $15 craps. I don't think l can risk any kind of comp whoring. I leave that to you high rollers like Rob who gets multiple offers on the same days. Pretty amazing, isn't it? Well I am not in his class.

I'm still confused here.

Yes, if you take a freeplay offer from a casino you hadn't been to before, use it, don't play, and leave, they will cut you off. It has nothing to do with double-dipping, and all to do with the fact that they see you're just using them and don't want to bother with you.

But why does it matter if that happens at the GN? You never go there, anyway.

It sounds like you have a good idea as to how the GN got your info, so what are you worried about? How will comp whoring at the GN affect your status and offers at CET? There is not a registry of comp whores.

Again, I would totally understand your position if you planned to become a regular patron of the GN, and didn't want to shoot your comp load with them with just one offer. But if it's a hotel where you're likely not to gamble in the future, you might as well use them for all you can.

[Dan Druff]

Oh, and I see you're mentioning hosts.

So perhaps you're worried that maybe a host at the GN will eventually make it over to work at Caesars, and then will know you as Alan the Comp Whore?

That's unlikely. While hosts do change jobs often, they only care about the here and now. They don't care if you comp whored at Casino A last month if you have a steady record of heavy play at Casino B, where they're working now. Casinos are very self-centered. They only care about their own action and focusing their comp dollars and offers on the ones likely to play heavily. They don't need to see you as a saint. CET hosts will be just fine with you playing normally there while also comp whoring non-CET properties. As long as you're playing regularly at their current property, they don't care what you do when you set foot in other casinos.

[Dan Druff]

This reminds me of an argument I had on another forum.

I posted that you don't have to feel obligated to gamble on the "free" Norwegian cruise you get as part of your Seven Stars benefits, as it's simply a marketing partnership and the two rewards programs have no connection.

I had some guy arguing that perhaps they might share player data at some point down the line, so it's important to still play those horrible paytable VP machines on the NCL cruise... you know, just in case.

I told him that he was engaging in wild "what if" speculation, and that CET absolutely does not give a shit what you do at the casino of their marketing partner. I told him that, even if they did share data at some point, CET would never penalize a regular player at their own casinos for choosing not to gamble during his cruise. The guy didn't agree and still told me he felt it was a mistake not to keep up some level of play there. I think he was just a gambling addict and was rationalizing for gambling on his cruises in a casino with terrible odds.

The bottom line is that, while it's understandable when a player eschews short-term comp gain at his regular casino in order to save his long-term offers from declining, it makes zero sense not to squeeze every comp possible out of casinos where you otherwise have no interest.

About 10 years ago, I was in northern Washington and counting cards at some casino there. I knew I would never be back. I got a feeling they were onto me, but I didn't get up and leave, as I normally would. I kept playing until they finally barred me from the game. My girlfriend at the time asked me why I let that happen, and I said, "If I'm never coming back to this place, who cares if they bar me from the blackjack game?" I also didn't get a player's card, so they couldn't share my name with anyone.

[Rob.Singer]

This is a foolish argument. Alan's worried about casino host feelings and Dan's making believe he wrote another book on gambling again.

Get real--you get an offer, you take complete advantage of it if you're making the trip anyway. It's actually a nice break away from the casino action to take a drive from Caesar's to the GN. And GN has better vp games anyway. Please....no more baloney about how "unromantic" it would be to go for a short drive. Who wants to hang around a casino 24/7 anyway? You're not looking to get married again at the craps table I hope!

[Alan Mendelson]

No Rob. Been there, done that. I have to come up with something better. She's worth it.

[Chimp]

How about a classic Vegas Elvis wedding! Lol